Method for monitoring the movements of individuals in and around buildings, rooms and the like

ABSTRACT

A method of monitoring the movements of an individual in and around buildings, rooms and other spaces, where each individual carries a passive transponder which has an individual-unique identity and which is for co-action with an active antenna that is connected, either directly or indirectly, to a monitoring center for transmitting signals received from transponders, and where a plurality of antennas are placed in and around the buildings, rooms or other spaces to be monitored. The signals transmitted to the exercise center are used to show movements of the individual in the form of a three-dimensional animated picture on a picture screen.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method of monitoring the movements ofan individual in and around buildings, rooms and other spaces, and thenparticularly a method of enabling the movements of individuals to bemonitored during military or civilian exercises.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

In respect of military exercises there exist systems for monitoring themovements and relocations of separate individuals or entire troopsand/or vehicles in open terrain or territory. These systems are used tobe able to verify that taught and practised movement patterns areactually followed during exercises, and to be able to check, forinstance, the manner in which soldiers move in battle exercises. Thesesystems utilise GPS systems, wherewith individuals and/or vehicles areequipped with a GPS transmitter which enables the exercise commandorganisation, for instance, to follow the movements of theindividuals/vehicles with the aid of signals transmitted to computerscreens via satellites. One drawback with such monitoring systems is thevery high costs involved, caused by the fact that eachindividual/vehicle is required to carry expensive position-locatingequipment (GPS transmitter). Another drawback is that such systemssolely function out in the terrain. Neither do they produce the desiredaccuracy. This accuracy deficiency is caused because data in the GPSsystem “hovers” and has an uncertainty factor of about ±10 m in both theX-direction and the Y-direction. This makes the system difficult to usein built-up areas and in buildings, owing to the fact that it isdifficult to establish the location of the individual/vehicle inrelation to the building. This degree of uncertainty is still greaterwhen the individual enters a building, wherewith it cannot beestablished with certainty that the individual actually moves inside thebuilding, or remains stationary.

Consequently, the aforedescribed method is unsuitable for monitoring themovements of an individual inside a building. Instead, the use of videocameras has been relied upon to this end, these cameras enabling themovements of the individual to be followed on video monitors connectedto the cameras. However, one drawback with the use of video monitors isthat they do not register the identity of the individual shown on themonitor. Moreover, these latter systems function poorly, or not at all,in the dark or in smoke-filled and water-filled spaces.

PCT/SE00/00530 describes a method in which an active or passivetransponder, for instance a passive transponder, a so-called tag,co-acts with a passive or an active antenna which is connected, eitherdirectly or indirectly, to a monitoring arrangement, and wherewith theindividual solely carries a transponder or an antenna, and in which oneor more antennas or a number of transponders are positioned in thebuilding to be monitored.

When configured appropriately, the method taught by the aforesaid PCTapplication enables the location of each specific individual in thebuilding to be established with centimetre-accuracy, and also enablesinformation to be obtained as to whether said individual is walking,creeping or wriggling forwards in the building. However, the methodlacks the possibility of providing realistic reproduction of the courseof events recorded in the monitoring arrangement. Moreover, simultaneousrecording of the course of events with the aid of video cameraspositioned in the building does not provide a good solution, since, insuch case, two separate courses of events will be shown due to theimpossibility of integrating these events. Video cameras also havelimitations with respect to dark and/or smoky conditions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a methodwith which the aforesaid drawbacks and deficiencies can be avoided.

The object of the present invention is achieved with a method ofmonitoring the movements of an individual in and around buildings, roomsand other spaces, wherein each individual carries a passive transponderwhich carries an individual-unique identity and which is intended forco-action with an active antenna that is connected, either directly orindirectly, to a monitoring centre for transmitting signals receivedfrom the transponder, and wherein a plurality of antennas are placed inand around the buildings, rooms or other spaces to be monitored, andwherein the signals sent to the monitoring centre are used to showmovements of the individual in the form of a three-dimensional animatedpicture on a picture screen.

With the aid of the signals sent to the monitoring centre, a computerprogram is able to compute these signals so as to be able to showmovement of the transponders as animated pictures of the individualscarrying the transponder in an animated environment true to reality.

The manner in which the individual moves forwards can be determinedthrough the medium of said antennas, by providing identity-definedtransponders on different parts of the individual's body, e.g. onhis/her feet, knees, stomach and hands, and therewith illustrate the wayin which the individual moves realistically, in the animated pictures.Another object of the invention is to enable the use of equipment by theindividuals to be monitored and shown. This can be achieved by alsoproviding the equipment with transponders, antennas or other signalemitters that illustrate their use, said use also being shown in theanimated picture.

The signals transmitted to the monitoring unit are stored in a computerat given points in time regarding the generation of each signal. Whenproducing the animated recording of a sequence of events, it istherewith possible to follow those events that one desires to see. Forexample, it can be chosen to follow the reaction of an individual, or,alternatively, to monitor a room or a building and “see” what ishappening in the room or building in the time sequence in which theevent/events takes/take place and with the individual or individualsthat was/were present.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described with reference to two non-limitingembodiments thereof, shown partially in the accompanying drawings, inwhich

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a building in which a number ofantennas have been installed, said figure being intended to illustrate afundamental condition in respect of the inventive method;

FIG. 2 illustrates another embodiment of the antenna arrangement whencarrying out the inventive method;

FIG. 3 illustrates the principle construction of a monitoring systemaccording to the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a building comprising severalfloors or stories and intended for training and exercising purposes withthe aid of the inventive method;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view similar to the view of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an illustration which illustrates how the result of anexercise can be shown on a picture screen in two-dimensions and

FIG. 7 is a view corresponding to that of FIG. 6, but inthree-dimensions.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Thus, FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a building 1, which includesfour rooms 2, 3, 4, 5 and an intermediate corridor 6. Entrance doors 7,8 are located at respective ends of the corridor, and door openings 9lead from the corridor 6 into respective rooms. Respective rooms alsoinclude outwardly facing window openings 10. Because the buildingdescribed is contemplated solely for use for exercising or trainingpurposes, the window openings 10 contain no glass, and neither do thedoor openings 9 contain inner doors. However, it will be understood thatboth windows and inner doors may be provided in the building, regardlessof the building being intended as an exercise building.

In the FIG. 1 embodiment, an antenna loop 2 a, 3 a, 4 a, 5 a isinstalled in each room 2–5, and three antenna loops 6 a, 6 b and 6 c areinstalled in the corridor 6. The antenna loops are of the kind used inradio frequency monitoring equipment, so-called RFID antennas. Each ofthese antenna loops are active antennas that are coupled to a mainunit/reader 11, the function of which is to register/read where anindividual carrying a transponder, e.g. a passive element, a so-calledtag, enters the detection area of the active antenna. The mainunit/reader 11 sends the recorded information to a monitoring centre,this centre being described in more detail with reference to thedescription of FIG. 3 below. The antenna loops 2 a, 3 a, 4 a, 5 a, 6 a,6 b, 6 c are preferably disposed in the floor or in the walls close tothe floor in respective rooms, although they may also be disposed atother places in respective rooms, so that they will essentially surroundrespective rooms or parts thereof, for instance may also be disposed inthe ceiling of respective rooms.

The antenna loops may be laid out permanently in the room, e.g. disposedbeneath the floor covering or moulded in the floor, and may,alternatively, be removable, for example by arranging them in a mat orcarpet that can be laid out and rolled up. A mat or carpet of thisnature may be provided at one of its edges with an electrical contactfor connection to the antenna loops provided in the mat.

Although not shown in the figure, antenna loops may also be arrangedaround, for example, the window openings 10 or the door openings 9 forthe inner doors, and also around the door openings for the entrancedoors 7, 8. This also enables the precise path taken by an individualinto or out of the building 1 to be recorded.

FIG. 2 illustrates another embodiment of the antenna arrangement whenpractising the inventive method, wherein the antenna loops provided insaid rooms are each divided into two parts. In FIG. 2, the antenna loopsin room 2 are referenced 2 a and 2 b, are referenced 3 a and 3 b in room3, are referenced 4 a and 4 b in room 4, and are referenced 5 a and 5 bin room 5. Four antenna loops 6 a–6 d are now arranged in the corridor6. As a result of this division of the antenna loops, a signal is nowsent from the loop in which an individual, carrying his/her transponder,a so-called tag, passes. It is also possible to see in the monitoringunit that part of the room in which the individual carrying saidtransponder is situated. It is, of course, possible to divide the roomsinto still smaller units, with an antenna loop for each unit, so as toobtain a more precise indication of the location of each individual.

The transponders, tags, carried by respective individuals contain aspecific code for each transponder, in a manner known per se, this codebeing transmitted by the active antenna so as to identify the individualpassing into the detection area of the antenna loop concerned. Byregistering which transponder has been given to respective individuals,it is possible to follow the movement of each individual in the building1 when antenna loops have been distributed in the manner described withreference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The individuals, persons, may carrydifferent transponders on their respective bodies, for example onetransponder on his/her foot, one transponder on his/her knee, and onetransponder on his/her chest. When the antenna loops have a transponderdetection range of only a decimetre, it can be determined with the aidof data from the antenna loop whether the person concerned passing intothe loop is walking, creeping or wriggling on his/her stomach. In thislatter instance, signals will be received from all three transponderscarried by the person, while only one signal is received from thefoot-carried transponder when the person concerned is walking. Thus,this enables the performance and efforts performed by persons in thebuilding to be monitored and checked more effectively than if a personcarried only one single transponder which merely indicated that he/shewas present in the room concerned.

As was before mentioned, FIG. 3 illustrates the principle constructionof a monitoring system that uses the inventive method. The illustratedsystem includes an antenna loop 12 (corresponding to one of the antennaloops a, b, c or d in FIG. 1 or 2), which is connected to a mainunit/reader 11 which, in turn, forwards to a monitoring centre 13 theinformation/data obtained through the medium of the antenna loop 12.Transmission of information/data from the main unit/reader 11 to themonitoring centre may, for instance, be effected through the medium of acable or radio 14. By delivering all information to a computer in themonitoring centre 13, there can be shown on a computer screen 15 apresentation of the movement carried out by the individuals in thebuilding 1, for example in the form of a three-dimensional drawing ofthe building with the position and movement of each individual in thebuilding being illustrated as an animated mobile figure. Additionalinformation, such as the name of each individual, may also be shown onthe screen 15 by appropriate programming of the computer. Allinformation shown instantaneously on the screen may, of course, be savedand shown later to those who have been involved directly in theexercise, for a study of the result of the exercise.

Each registered movement or measure is recorded suitably with astatement of the exact time point, place, involved persons, etc., so asto later be able to play back the sequence of events on the basis ofdesired conditions, for example follow a given person or follow what hastaken place in a building or a room.

If, as before mentioned, transponders having defined identities areplaced on different parts of the body of each individual, e.g. on thefeet, on the knees, on the stomach and on the hands, it will be possibleto determine, via the positions of respective antennas, the way in whichthe individual moves, and therewith be able to illustrate this on theanimated pictures in a realistic fashion. Thus, it will be possible topresent in the animated picture an image of the individual that showsthe way in which he/she moves, i.e. in a walking, creeping or wrigglingmode.

By positioning antenna loops at strategic positions in a building, it istherefore possible to follow the movement of each individual as he/sheenters and moves within the building. As shown in FIG. 4, for example,antenna loops 16 may be installed around window openings in a buildingfor detecting entrance of the individuals into the building through awindow opening. Naturally, corresponding arrangements can be placed atthe door openings present in the building. Antenna loops 17 are alsodisposed inside the building around the internal door openings, fordetecting the entrance of individuals into different rooms of thebuilding. Similarly, the floors of respective rooms may include antennaloops 18 that cover the floor more or less completely but are dividedinto different sections, so that the way in which individuals move inthe various rooms can be followed.

Placement of antenna loops 19 internally of the roof of the buildings(see FIG. 5) will also enable the manner in which a person moves on theroof of a building to be followed in detail. When the building includesroof hatches and the like through which a person is able to enter thebuilding, these entrances will, of course, preferably be provided withantennas around their respective openings, so as to enable the passageof a person into the building to be monitored and recorded. Similarly,building stairways will also conveniently be provided with antenna loops20, so as to enable movement of persons between the different floors orstories in the building to be followed.

The inventive method can also be applied to simulate a battle in anentire built-up area; i.e. not only in a building, but in an entirecity, town or the like. In this case, active antennas may be placed inseveral buildings in the town, and also in streets and other openplaces. This enables the movement of a person through the town to befollowed and also enables the person to be tracked as he/she enters abuilding, by means of antennas installed in the building. Antennas mayalso be placed externally on the building, for instance at the cornersof the building, and also around the windows, so that persons passingoutside the building can be recorded.

Auxiliary devices, such as ladders 21, may also be placed around thebuildings in the town, which devices can be used by persons involved inthe exercise to enter the buildings or used in some other way. Theseauxiliary devices may also be equipped with transponders, so as toenable movement of said devices to be registered/recorded. For example,if a ladder 21 is equipped with a transponder and the ladder is raisedagainst a window through which a person can enter the building, this canbe recorded partly as a result of the ladders being moved past antennaloops on the street and partly because the window opening is equippedwith an antenna loop 16, so that placement of the ladder against thewindow will be registered by the window antenna loop as it detects thetransponder on the ladder 21. This can also be animated in a recordingand shown correspondingly as movement of the individuals in and aroundthe buildings.

The buildings may also contain furniture and other objects that may beequipped with transponders, so that shifting or re-arrangement of thefurniture and objects, for instance to build barricades inside thebuilding, can be detected and recorded. The transponders may be providedwith built-in inclination sensors/position sensors, so as to also beable to follow how furniture is used as protection or to buildbarricades. Similar to the aforesaid, this can also be animated andshown three-dimensionally when studying the exercise.

The buildings in the town may also be provided with hit-acknowledgingdetectors 22 which, e.g. with the aid of prisms, record the “hits”achieved on buildings in respect of simulated weapon firing. Thesedetectors can “record” hits achieved with heavy artillery, guns, or tankartillery, mortar fire, and also hits achieved with handguns. When thehit acknowledging detectors are also able to determine the type ofweapon that has been fired, through the medium of said hit signals, itis also possible, by programming, to arrange for these weapon hits toactivate both simulation of damage in the building that is significantwith respect to those in the vicinity of the damage, for instancesimulated fire, smoke, water, etc., and also to record in the monitoringsystem the elimination of those persons situated in the part of thebuilding concerned. Fire and smoke may, for instance, be simulated, byusing rotating yellow and red light supplemented with smoke activation.Water leakage, for example as a result of a broken water pipe, can besimulated with the aid of water sprinklers that are activated externallyof the recorded “weapon hit”. Such events may also be shown in ananimated form on a picture screen when playing back a sequence ofevents.

In addition to recording the movement of an individual and his/herpassage through doors or windows, the inventive method also enables therecording to be coupled to the firing of a weapon, for example. Therecording can take place by providing the weapon with a contact elementconnected to the trigger of the weapon which controls a tag/transponderto emit a “firing code” which can be discerned and registered by theantenna loops in the room and, in this way, forward firing informationto the monitoring unit. It is therewith possible to determine whichweapon has been fired and the number of times of firing the weapon. Theweapon may also be equipped with gyros or other types of directionsensors, which also enable the direction in which the weapon has beensighted to be recorded. This can also be shown in an animated form on apicture screen when playing back a sequence of events.

Direction sensors may also be placed on the heads of respectiveindividuals taking part in an exercise, so that the direction in whichindividuals are looking can be recorded by a sequence of events. Whatthe individual sees can also be animated.

Practice hand grenades used in the exercise may also be provided with atag/transponder so that the path travelled by a grenade thrown into thebuilding, e.g. through a window, can be recorded with the aid of antennaloops positioned in the buildings. The place where the hand grenadelands in the building can also be recorded in this way. Such informationis forwarded by the antenna loop/main unit to the monitoring unit, whereall of these pieces of information can be registered and recorded,together with the effect of the grenade on those individuals that may bepresent in the building. Such grenades may also include a “time delay”,such that a code will be sent from the hand grenade for as long as itremains inactive, and such that another code will be transmittedsubsequent to explosion of the grenade, so as to be able to ascertainwhether or not the grenade was thrown at the right moment, and also tobe able to ascertain whether persons in the vicinity of the hand grenadewere able to move to safety or not. The grenade may also include atransponder which will emit a signal whilst the hand grenade is safe,and another code when the hand grenade has been armed.

Explosions can be simulated by providing dummy explosives 23 withtransponders that send, in a corresponding manner, signals to antennas24 in their proximity, subsequent to having been placed in position.Such dummy explosives 23 may also include a “time delay” that can beactivated when the dummy explosive has been primed and that causesrecording of the detonated dummy explosive to take place with a delayedeffect. The dummy explosives may have mutually different sizes anddeliver mutually different signals, dependent on size, so that theeffect of the primed dummy explosive when exploding can be determineddirectly in the monitoring computer.

In conjunction with the aforesaid dummy explosives 23, there may also bearranged hatches or doors which are, e.g., locked with electric locksand which are intended for practising explosion exercises and which,subsequent to priming a dummy explosive and triggering said dummy, canbe opened automatically, so as to simulate in this way the “real”destruction by explosive means, where the persons carrying out theexercise are hindered by the closed door and find it necessary to blowthe door apart, and also find it necessary to protect themselves againsttheir demise as a result of the explosion. As will be understood, thislatter event can be controlled with the aid of antenna loops disposed inthe floor around the hatch or door, so that the locations of respectivepersons during this time period can be monitored.

The inventive method is not solely useful for military purposes, but canalso be used for more civil exercises, for example in training smokedivers or riot police, so as to enable movement of the individualconcerned in a building to be readily monitored.

The inventive method can also be used beneficially in evaluating thesearch result of so-called tracker dogs or sleuth-hounds. The inventivemethod is highly beneficial for monitoring the movements of a dog andits way of searching a building, as the dog can be let into the buildingon its own and the movements of the dog and its search through thebuilding followed precisely on a computer screen with the aid of theinventive method.

The inventive method is favourable from the aspect of cost in comparisonwith those monitoring systems used hitherto, since each individual needonly carry one transponder as opposed to the known corresponding methodsin which each individual is required to carry a radio and GPStransmitter, which do not, nevertheless, afford the same degree ofaccuracy as that afforded by the present invention. The inventive methodrequires solely one radio link or fixed line, and the number of soldiersor other individuals may be practically unlimited.

The inventive method also enables all data to be saved in a computer, sothat the entire sequence of events can be viewed in detail by thosepersons taking part in the exercise, at a later date.

The software used to display the recorded exercise may be constructed toenable the exercise to be seen at several levels, for example anoverview of an entire town, an individual building, a room in saidbuilding, and down to the level of a particular detail in the room. Itis also possible to decide whether or not to show the sequence of eventsin a two-dimensional picture, FIG. 6, or in a three-dimensional picture,FIG. 7. The display can also be zoomed to show details more clearly, asindicated in FIG. 7. The level of detail in buildings and the like mayalso be varied and can be created by recording views with the aid, e.g.,of digital video cameras.

1. A method of monitoring movements of an individual in and aroundbuildings, rooms and other spaces, wherein each individual carriesplural passive transponders with each transponder having anindividual-unique identity and that is intended for co-action with anactive antenna which is connected, either directly or indirectly, to amonitoring centre (13) for transmitting signals received fromtransponders, characterised by placing on different parts of the body ofsaid individual the transponders that have individual-unique definedidentities, by placing a plurality of antenna loops (16,17,18,19,20) inand around buildings, rooms and other spaces to be monitored for adirect co-action with the transponders carried by the individual, byregistering the presence the transponders within a detection range ofone of the antenna loops to obtain a positioning of each of thetransponders carried by the individual, and by using the signals sent tothe monitoring centre (13) to show movements of individuals as athree-dimensional animated picture on a picture screen, wherein theindividual is displayed as an animated non-static three-dimensionalpicture of the individual and the three-dimensional picture of theindividual changes as the individual moves.
 2. A method according toclaim 1, characterised by placing transponders on feet, a knee, astomach and hands of respective individuals and the three dimensionalanimated picture of the individual shows the way in which the individualmoves to three-dimensionally display walking, creeping and wriggling ofthe individual.
 3. A method according to claim 1, characterised byplacing antenna loops around window openings (16) and door openings (17)in said buildings.
 4. A method according to claim 1, characterised byplacing antenna loops generally evenly over the entire floor surface(18) in respective buildings.
 5. A method according to claim 1,characterised by providing objects (21) in and around the building withtransponders, and by using signals sent to the monitoring centre (13) toshow movements of each object as an animated three-dimensional pictureof each object, wherein each object is displayed as a non-static threedimensional animated picture of the object that changes as the objectmoves.
 6. A method according to claim 1, characterised by providingexercise material with transponders.
 7. A method according to claim 1,characterised by providing the buildings with hit acknowledgingdetectors which function to register simulated hits on the building andwhich are coupled to the antenna loops.
 8. A method according to claim1, characterised by providing exercise material including weaponry, handgrenades, and explosive material with transponders.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, wherein, the three dimensional animated picture of theindividual shows the way in which the individual moves to displaywalking, creeping and wriggling of the individual.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, wherein, the three dimensional animated picture of theindividual shows the way in which the individual moves to displaywalking and creeping of the individual.
 11. The method of claim 1,wherein, the transponders are placed on plural of feet, knees, a stomachand hands of the individual, and the three dimensional animated pictureof the individual shows the way in which the individual moves to displaywalking and, creeping of the individual.
 12. A method of monitoringmovements of an individual in and around buildings, rooms and otherspaces, comprising the steps of: providing plural antenna loops within amonitoring space; providing an active antenna in communication with amonitoring center and in communication with each antenna loop; placingplural passive transponders on different parts of an individual; eachtransponder having a different individual-unique identity, having theantenna loops directly co-act with the transponders to obtain signalsrepresenting an exact three-dimensional position of the individual;having the obtained signals sent via the active antenna to themonitoring center; and using the signals sent to the monitoring centerto show, on a screen, movements of the individual as a three-dimensionalanimated picture of the individual within the monitoring space, whereinthe three-dimensional picture of the individual three-dimensionallychanges on the screen as the individual moves within the monitoringspace.
 13. A method according to claim 12, wherein, transponders areplaced on feet, knees, a stomach and hands of the individual.
 14. Amethod according to claim 12, wherein, the transponders are placed onplural of feet, knees, a stomach and hands of the individual.
 15. Themethod of claim 12, wherein, the transponders are placed on plural offeet, knees, a stomach and hands of the individual, and the threedimensional animated picture of the individual shows the way in whichthe individual moves to three-dimensionally display walking and creepingof the individual.
 16. The method of claim 12, wherein, objects (21) inand around the monitoring space are provided with object-transponders,and using signals generated from the object-transponders to showmovements of each object as an animated three-dimensional picture ofeach object, wherein each object is displayed as a non-static threedimensional animated picture of the object that changesthree-dimensionally as the object moves.
 17. A method of monitoringmovements of an individual in and around buildings, rooms and otherspaces, comprising the steps of: providing plural antenna loops within amonitored area; placing plural passive transponders on different partsof an individual, each transponder having a different individual-uniqueidentity; having the antenna loops co-act with the transponders toobtain signals representing an exact three-dimensional position of thedifferent parts of the individual; and using the signals to show, on ascreen, movements of the individual as a three-dimensional animatedindividual within the monitored area, wherein the three-dimensionalpicture of the individual three-dimensionally changes on the screen asthe individual moves within the monitored area.
 18. The method of claim17, wherein, the transponders are placed on plural of feet, knees, astomach and hands of the individual, and the three dimensional animatedpicture of the individual shows the way in which the individual moves tothree-dimensionally display walking and creeping of the individual. 19.The method of claim 17, wherein, objects (21) in and around themonitored area are provided with object-transponders, and using signalsgenerated from the object-transponders to show movements of each objectas an animated three-dimensional picture of each object, wherein eachobject is displayed as a non-static three dimensional animated pictureof the object that changes three-dimensionally as the object moves.